This was the view at sunset from the balcony of our beach house. Imperial Beach is about 4 miles north of the Mexican border, and is a quaint SoCal beach town.
Here is a statue of a prehistoric mastodon at the zoo -- you can see how huge he was!
Colin was super excited to ride the top level of the double-decker bus at the zoo (here he is waiting in line.) You can see who came to the zoo with us (in his left hand.) "We" don't go much of anywhere without a car in hand, and this was Lightning McQueen with night vision goggles, which he proudly earned right before the trip as part of potty training.
We hit Sea World our first full day there and had a yummy buffet breakfast next to Shamu's practice pool. It was incredible being so close to these huge animals! Colin enjoyed seeing the sharks, watching us feed the seals (such beggars!), and playing in the Sesame Street Area. He's still afraid of large mascots, and thus when we stood by Shamu (Shampoo, as Colin calls him), Matt had to stand between Colin and the whale.
We then hit the San Diego Zoo for the next two days -- there's just too much to see in one day! Colin requested we do a family "self portrait" while at the zoo -- it turned out pretty well. The new Elephant Odyssey area is great prehistoric animal statues that are life-sized (and huge!)
We ate dinner at Casa Guadalajara in Old Town San Diego and listened to Mariachi Bands play while I ate one too many fajitas. They were so yummy I couldn't help myself. We also enjoyed dinner the Edgewater Grill in Seaport Village (with views to Coronado Island), as well as nice Mexican Seafood restaurant in Imperial Beach, which is where we stayed during our visit.
Our last day there Colin figured out how much fun it was to jump in the waves on the beach. He loved the sand and water and keeps asking when we will go back to the beach and ocean. As much fun as the cold water was, though, he loved going back to the beach house and having Dad put warm shower water down his wetsuit from the outdoor shower -- ahhhhhh!
